"When you do want to dismiss the registrar-registry split as ridiculously invented, you are required to explain first why this approach works quite well in a lot of ccTLD's and why it fails in its current setup for gTLD's. Then you might not dismiss it but propose to change the flaws that cause the problems."

This is correct. I use the word "ridiculous" to demonstrate the point that the registrar channel has not "accomplished competition" as the people that invented it are always so quick to claim. I attempt to point to the fact that the average retail price of $10 is merely a cause-effect relationship of the wholesale price being regulated at $6. Whereas the .com extension can command a higher wholesale price due to artificial restrictions to entry (another regulatory act), it is likely that a system for new entry (without wholesale price regulation) would produce entrants with far lower wholesale pricing that in time will cause the artificially inflated .com extension to compete on these terms that would also include customer service goals as well. My point is not to remove the registrar channel so much as this mechanism is merely a by-product of an artificially created competitive environment that the community continues to pay for. Many other things have come together as well that have placed pressure upon the operators of the .com registry to where the interests of their stockholders coincide with the interests of many in the community that feel ICANN has overstepped its regulatory bounds. For this reason, I view Verisign as the first stakeholder to the ICANN entity that can champion a smaller ICANN though for entirely different reasons but nonetheless makes them a "teammate" in this regard. Remember, ICANN forces its contracted registry operators to participate with all ICANN appproved registrars (another regulatory act from an entity that claims not to be one). I hope this is clearer. The word "ridiculous" is not so much pointed at the registrars themselves but the people that set this up and then claim "competition" as an accomplishment for the community.